Today I thought it might be fun to make a list of all the places Jared and I have lived over the past decade, and decide what is the #1 thing about each place we would take to create our perfect dream location, if that were possible. This isn't going to be totally comprehensive because we've got football practice in 20 minutes, but it will be a fun recap of our last decade for me!
#1: Utah Valley, Utah
Some of our favorite parts: Family, Dry Canyon, the mountains, Utah Lake, family-friendly restaurants and parks.
#2: Grenada, West Indies
Some of our favorite parts: Walks, white-sand beaches with calm turquoise water, exotic fresh fruits, apartment with private veranda looking out to our own iguana-filled rainforest, slow pace.
#3: Decatur, Georgia
Some of our favorite parts: Food (the BEST bbq and wings), nicest people, proximity to cool places, gorgeous boardwalks everywhere
#4: Bar Nunn, Wyoming
#5: Snohomish County, Washington
Some of our favorite parts: Temperature range/distribution of seasons, stunning rivers and lakes (and trees) everywhere, close to Jared's parents, quick access to mountains, lakes, rivers, ocean, and forest.
For today's post I was planning to do a comparison of all the places we've lived over the past decade, and then do a "build our dream home location" using our personal favorite elements of each one. Maybe March Madness bracket style. But I underestimated how much time that would take, so hopefully I'll finish it for tomorrow's post. Since I had about ten minutes before I needed to pick Jack up from preschool and then drop him off at a church friend's birthday party, I did an impromptu recording playing the same "Tarantella" from a previous post, but on our new piano instead of our old one for comparison. I hope the sound comes through ok! It sounded a little brassy on my phone, but in real life the new piano plays just beautifully. The sound is softer and smoother than our old piano. A senior missionary couple from our ward will be picking up our old piano for their mission home in a week or so.
I hope you are all having a lovely day! We are enjoying sunshine and spring blossoms here. I am writing this blog post on our back patio to soak it in before the cloudy skies and rain return tomorrow.
It's a beautiful week in the Pacific Northwest. We have a 14-hour drive to Utah coming up soon, and while I'm nervous about how it will go with a baby and a 5-year-old (not TOO nervous since we have survived much worse when it comes to road trips), it feels like a gateway drive. If we can pass this roadtrip test, weekend adventures will seem a lot more accessible than they have since having our Baby Alice 6 months ago. With summer around the corner, that will be a good feeling.
I will be doing multiple blog posts this week, so with not too much to report on from this last week, I will touch on the highlights in the captions to these pictures:
The Risk Backstory: Jared taught Jack the basic rules of Risk several weeks ago. Jack had been obsessed with playing board games with us, but we were getting tired of checkers and chess and Bang! We decided to add Risk to the repertoire (mostly because I knew he'd keep very entertained playing with the little Risk guys like tiny soldier toys). Sure enough, he loved it and wanted us to play it with him for several days. Eventually we got sick of it because he didn't really have the rules figured out and, let's be honest, it's an extremely long game. Too long for more than once-yearly play in my opinion. So we hid it away until he forgot about it for a while. Well, this weekend he remembered and wanted to play again. We told him we'd play it for a Saturday family game night. Jared's parents and brother were going to stop by so we tricked them into staying to play. It was a bonafide Risk night, and Jared's dad does NOT go easy on the little guy (for the better--I go easy on Jack way too often because it makes the game go faster and keeps the mood lighter). He made sure rules were followed and it turned into quite the game. When Jared's Dad wiped Jack out and took his cards, Jack handled it well but I could tell he was a little heartbroken so I told him my borders were open and he could join my team. The game continued until we called a truce at 10 p.m. and got Jack to sleep, much past his bedtime. He really had the rules figured out by then and had the best evening.
He was VERY grumpy the next day. The grumpiest he's maybe ever been. We got home from church and he was so tired that he couldn't function beyond moping and falling on the floor, but he couldn't stop thinking about Risk and begging us to play with him, and he flat-out refused to take a nap even though he knew he was exhausted. I even laid down in his bed with him, reading books and rubbing his arm and trying to get him to fall asleep. No dice. He just kept whining and begging me to play Risk with him. Eventually I told him, nicely, that me and Jared would not be playing Risk with him unless he chose to take a nap and woke up in a better mood, because we didn't want to play with someone who was just going to be snapping at us the whole time. That's not fun. He still was firmly in the "no nap, only Risk" camp. So I told him he could play Risk during his quiet time with his stuffed Bunny and Foxy, who often join him in games during his quiet time haha. He thought about it while I went to grab the game, and by the time I came back upstairs he was sitting on the top step with his stuffed animals, deep in thought. "I'm sorry Mom," he said. "I'll play Risk with my stuffed animals." Then he gave me a hug and got all set up in Jared's office. I set his quiet time timer for 90 minutes, and when it went off he ignored it and kept playing for 3 more hours. Jared went to check in on him at one point and he said, "I just want some alone time to play this with Foxy and Bunny." Incredible. He flipped a 180 and was his happy self the rest of the day. I even agreed to a shortened version of Risk with him after dinner and really enjoyed when he'd attack me from "Afghani-stand" (Afghanistan) or "Indoor-nesia" (Indonesia). I love that kid so much.
Happy 6 Months to Baby Alice! It feels like we're entering a new era (sitting up, solids, etc.), and even though the time is going too fast, I am loving this stage. It felt so far off when she was a little newborn, but now that we're here it happened in a blink.
Nicknames: Ali Girl, Baby Al, Larky Loo, Albert, Goose (the shortened form of an earlier nickname, "Baby McAngel McGuffet McStuffins McGoose"). Mostly she's just "Alice." Sometimes Jared will throw in an "Alicia Keys," but that is this only nickname I hear from him (Alice has always been his favorite name so makes sense). The rest is all me and my bizarre nicknaming tendencies. I just can't help what comes out of my mouth when I see my cute widdle baby gooses.
New milestones: We've started solids! So far she's loved butternut squash, applesauce, and pears. Whenever she tries a new food she makes the most concerned-looking face and furrows her little brow while she contemplates the flavor. Then after another try or two she's usually reaching for more. She prefers if we load up a spoon and hand it to her so she can feed herself. It makes it into her mouth about 40% of the time. More often than not she feeds it directly into her eyeball, nostril, or hair. It's very fun. I am loving having her sit at the table and eat with us at dinner time. Keeps her busier and happier than she used to be during dinner. She's still a little wobbly in her high chair, but her ability to balance and sit on her own is getting better every day.
Size: Starting to grow out of her 3-6 month clothes. Wearing size 2 diapers.
Tricks: Rolling all the time. Might be pushing up onto her knees soon. Starting to spend more time in her baby walker and activity bouncer. Easily flops out of her bath seat so we have to keep a keen eye on her all through bath time. She's so happy and smiley and makes the cutest noises during baths so we wouldn't want to miss a second of that anyway.
Jack is as in love with Alice as ever. He is the best big brother and loves finding new ways to play with and hold her. I might have mentioned this in a previous post, but sometimes he'll ask a question and I'll answer and he'll say, "No I was talking to Alice." And then I'm required to respond on behalf of Alice in a baby voice because I am not invited to their conversation, but also I'm required to be Alice's baby voice in the conversation. It's a good time.
Sleep is overall good! Last week I was only getting 3-hour stretches of sleep at a time and that was rough. This week she's doing a longer stretch again. Still eating twice per night and then going right back to sleep when she's done. I'm tired but not debilitatingly so, and I think I'll actually miss our special midnights together when this stage is over (though I am VERY excited for her to get down to one nightly feed). Naps are good too. On average she takes a one-hour nap in the morning, a two-hour nap in the afternoon (coinciding with Jack's preschool--amazing), and a 40-minute nap in the early evening. Usually at least one of those naps will be even longer. (Not really an Alice update, but my milk supply is slowly picking back up, hallelujah!)
The smiles and laughs are happening more and more often. My favorite times are when Alice wakes up happy and cooing, and then gives me the biggest smiles and kicks her legs when I walk into her room. She's the best. Her smiles, dimples, big soulful eyes and floppy hair get me every time. I love how she sleeps on her side or tummy, one arm curled around her little cow lovey. Jared and I have decided that the Lovey is the superior baby sleep crutch. Small enough to be portable and not get tangled up in. Easier for her to grab onto than the pacifier was. Doesn't mess with teeth. Also it's just so stinkin cute. Before bed we love checking in on Jack, who inevitably has one arm wrapped around his stuffed bunny, and then checking in on Alice, who has one arm around her cow lovey. Gets us right in the feels.
Alice is growing like a weed. Her hair is going to need a trim to even it out very soon! Her fingernails need to be trimmed ALL the time. They grow into little razor blades so quickly. Enjoy some pictures of our sweet Baby Alice, starting with a lil' photoshoot in a dress my talented mom hand-crocheted when I was a baby (there will be another, more summery photoshoot in this dress next month):
We just got our "new" piano delivered and I am so excited about it! Jared's parents had a friend from their ward wanting to get rid of their piano. They were willing to part with it for free to anyone who could come pick it up. We only just got our thrift store piano a little over a year ago so I didn't think we were looking for a piano, but holy cow turns out we were. It is SUCH an upgrade. I'm not sure how old it is, but it's a nicer brand (Kawai), looks great, doesn't need to be tuned yet, and most importantly, she plays like an absolute dream. Since it was free, and since our last piano-moving situation was a huge headache, we decided to shell out for professional piano movers. DO THIS if you are moving a piano and you can. It cost a little over $300 but honestly I think we came out ahead. By the time we would have rented a truck, paid for the gas and the mileage (the piano was over an hour from our house), coordinated helpers for down there and up here, likely banged it around getting it off a truck, thereby requiring us to pay for a tuning . . . and I mean the headache saved alone was worth the cost to us. Especially knowing this is likely our "forever piano." Here she is:
